Awake and up at 4:50 this morning in Vienna. Showered and out to enjoy coffee and task of recapturing the previous day's events for our growing (up to six) reading audience. A pleasant and clear morning; good to know as today should be a busy one.
Off ship at 8:45 for the trip into Vienna and the "Hidden Culture Tour." Others are on a standard City Tour and a Gentle Walkers tour. All spend about 3 hours in Vienna, covering the same things from different angles. We all come back with the same information. Vienna is a very old City and the guides all seem to want to impress us with the city's former glory and the power and glory of the past Austro-Hungarian empire.
After a return to the ship for lunch, it is off again on another coach trip to Schonbrun Palace. This was the "summer" home of the Hapsburg dynasty, leaders of the Holy Roman Empire and then the Austro-Hungarian empire. According to our resident expert, Deb, they were going for a competitive run against Versailles; Hapsburgs lost, but it is hard to see how from the opulence apparent in the interiors. We toured the palace and then had an opportunity to tour the grounds and garden. With only 40 minutes to cover 7 square kilometers of gardens, we didn't make much of a dent. A gentle rain started shortly after we reached the grounds, refreshing given our lack of moisture back home, but it did put a damper on the strolling.
We returned to the ship by 5:00 and sat for a lecture on the coming day in Budapest. Then down to change and back up for the Captain's Farewell dinner. This was our group's night to dine in the private dining room rather than the main dining room, so we didn't get to see the Captain down his fare. However, given the small size of the vessel, he is a constant presence and we speak to him almost daily, so missing the chance to watch him eat wasn't such a hardship.
An early evening turn-in for some in preparation for our arrival in the final city destination of Budapest in Hungary, tomorrow morning around 8:30 AM.
Friday, November 8 through Sunday, November 10, 2024
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